Clothes treating apparatus and the control method for the same

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a clothes treating apparatus and a control method thereof. Specifically, the clothes treating apparatus may include an inverter configured to convert a direct current (DC) input into an alternating current (AC) output and provide the AC output to the motor, and a controller configured to control the inverter in relation to driving of the motor.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No.10-2020-0178342, filed in Korea on Dec. 18, 2020, in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporatedherein in its entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The present disclosure relates to a laundry treating apparatus thatcontrols an inverter to operate in a first mode and a second modeaccording to a situation, and a control method thereof.

2. Background

According to an operation principle for motors used in home appliances,current may be controlled only when exact positions of rotors areidentified. In order to obtain position information, encoders,resolvers, hall sensors, and the like may be used, but such positiondetection devices are generally expensive, and have complicating wiringsand structures such that usage environment thereof is limited.Accordingly, in recent years, sensorless control that does not useposition detection devices has been actively studied, but the sensorlesscontrol has a problem of initial position detection.

Thus, in a related art 1 (Korean Patent Application Publication No.10-2020-0087604), there is disclosed a configuration for estimatingmotor resistance by sensorless control by applying 12 signals for2-point operation.

Further, in a related art 2 (Korean Patent Application Publication No.10-2015-0053559), there is disclosed a configuration for efficientlydetecting a voltage applied to a motor in a sensorless laundry treatmentmachine.

However, such related arts use a sensorless method, but only disclose aconfiguration for estimating resistance of a stator and a configurationfor detecting a voltage applied to a motor, but do not disclose atechnique for controlling the motor by a first mode in which a positionis aligned and a second mode in which the position is not aligned(alignless) according to a situation.

In addition, when the motor is controlled only by the first mode inwhich the position is aligned, since a relatively longer positionalignment time is required, the motor may not be quickly controlled, andthus noise may be generated.

In addition, when the motor is controlled only by the second mode inwhich the position is not aligned (alignless), current distributionoccurs when the motor starts, and thus there is a problem of malfunctiondue to the current distribution when current information is used.

Thus, when the motor is not controlled to operate in the first mode, inwhich the position is aligned, and the second mode, in which theposition is not aligned (alignless), according to a situation, theoverall clothes treating time is increased and the accuracy of clothamount detection is lowered.

Accordingly, a clothes treating apparatus may not be controllednormally, and thus user dissatisfaction may occur and the product may beevaluated poorly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments will be described in detail with reference to thefollowing drawings in which like reference numerals refer to likeelements wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a clothes treating apparatus accordingto an example embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the clothes treatingapparatus including a motor control device according to an exampleembodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a clothes treating apparatus accordingto an example embodiment;

Regions (a) and (b) of FIG. 4 are diagrams illustrating a currentapplied to a motor according to an example embodiment;

Regions (a) and (b) of FIG. 5 are diagrams illustrating a currentapplied to a motor according to another example embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a resistance estimation section and aninitial position estimation section according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the resistance estimationsection according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a resistance detectionsection included in the resistance estimation section according to anexample embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a diagram for describing a method of estimating a statorresistance according to an example embodiment;

Regions (a) and (b) of FIG. 10 are diagrams for describing non-linearcharacteristics of an inverter and a compensation voltage according tothe non-linear characteristics of the inverter according to an exampleembodiment;

Regions (a) and (b) of FIG. 11 are diagrams for describing a differencebetween a command voltage according to the compensation voltage and avoltage output to the motor, according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a response current according to anexample embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a method of estimating a position of arotor according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a method of estimating the position ofthe rotor according to another example embodiment;

FIG. 15 illustrates one example embodiment of the clothes treatingapparatus operating in a first mode or a second mode before starting upa motor; and

FIG. 16 is a flowchart for describing a method of controlling the motoraccording to an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Terms used in example embodiments are general terms that are currentlywidely used while their respective functions in the present disclosureare taken into consideration. However, the terms may be changeddepending on the intention of one of ordinary skilled in the art, legalprecedents, emergence of new technologies, and the like. Further, incertain cases, there may be terms arbitrarily selected by the applicant,and this case, the meaning of the term will be described in detail inthe corresponding description. Accordingly, the terms used herein arenot to be construed simply as its designation but based on the meaningof the term and the overall context of the present disclosure.

Throughout the specification, when a part is referred to as including acomponent, unless particularly defined otherwise, it means that the partdoes not exclude other components and may further include othercomponents. Further, terms “processer(or),” “processing module,” and thelike refer to a unit that processes at least one function or operation,which may be implemented in hardware or software or implemented in acombination of hardware and software.

The expression “at least one of a, b, and c,” should be understood asincluding only a, only b, only c, both a and b, both a and c, both b andc, or all of a, b, and c.

A “terminal” referred to below may be implemented as a computer orportable terminal that may access a server or other terminals through anetwork. In this regard, the computer may include a notebook computer, adesktop computer, a laptop computer, and the like provided with a WEBBrowser, and the portable terminal may be a wireless communicationdevice that ensures portability and mobility and may include all typesof handheld wireless communication devices, such as an InternationalMobile Telecommunication (IMT) terminal, a code-division multiple access(CDMA)terminal, a wideband code-division multiple access (W-CDMA)terminal, a long term evolution (LTE) terminal, a smart phone, a tablepersonal computer (PC), and the like.

Example embodiments of the present disclosure that are easily performedby those skilled in the art will be described in detail below withreference to the accompanying drawings. The present disclosure may,however, be implemented in many different forms and should not beconstrued as being limited to the example embodiments described herein.

Example embodiments of the present disclosure will be described indetail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a clothes treating apparatus accordingto an example embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1, a clothes treatingapparatus (or laundry treating apparatus) 100 may be a drum type clothestreating apparatus in which cloth is inserted into a washing tub throughthe front thereof. Alternatively, unlike FIG. 1, the clothes treatingapparatus 100 may be a clothes treating apparatus in which the cloth isinserted into the washing tub through an upper portion thereof. Theclothes treating apparatus may be an apparatus in which cloth isinserted and at least one of washing, rinsing, dehydrating, and dryingis performed on the clothes.

The drum type clothes treating apparatus 100 may include a cabinet 110forming an exterior thereof, a tub 120 disposed inside the cabinet 110and supported by the cabinet 110, a drum 122, which is disposed insidethe tub 120 and in which cloth is washed, a motor 130 configured todrive the drum 122, a washing water supply device (not shown) disposedoutside a cabinet body 111 and configured to supply washing water to theinside of the cabinet 110, and a drainage device (not shown) formed on alower side of the tub 120 and configured to discharge the washing waterto the outside.

The drum 122 may have a plurality of through-holes 122A through whichwashing water passes, and a lifter 124 may be disposed on an inner sidesurface of the drum 122 such that laundry is lifted to a certain heightwhen the drum 122 rotates and then dropped due to gravity.

The cabinet 110 may include a cabinet body 111, a cabinet cover 112 thatis disposed on the front of the cabinet body 111 and combined with thecabinet body 111, a control panel 115 that is disposed on an upper sideof the cabinet cover 112 and combined with the cabinet body 111, and atop plate 116 that is disposed on an upper side of the control panel 115and combined with the cabinet body 111.

The cabinet cover 112 may include a cloth entrance hole 114 throughwhich cloth enters or exits, and a door 113 disposed to be rotatable tothe left and right such that the cloth entrance hole 114 may be open andclosed.

The control panel 115 may include operation keys 117 for operatingoperation states of the clothes treating apparatus 100, and a display118 disposed on one side of the operation keys 117 and configured todisplay the operation states of the clothes treating apparatus.

The operation keys 117 and the display 118 disposed in the control panel115 may be electrically connected to a controller (not shown), and thecontroller (not shown) may electrically control each of constituentelements of the clothes treating apparatus 100. Details of the operationof the controller (not shown) will be described below. Although notshown in the drawing, the clothes treating apparatus 100 may furtherinclude various sensors and other devices. For example, the clothestreating apparatus may further include a vibration sensor for measuringthe amount of vibration of the drum 122, or may further include a devicefor detecting and reducing vibration generated according to the amountof eccentricity of cloth accommodated in the drum 122.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a clothes treatingapparatus including a motor control device according to an exampleembodiment. Referring to FIG. 2, the clothes treating apparatus mayinclude at least one of a motor 230, an operation key 240, a display250, and a motor control device 200. At this time, the motor controldevice 200 may include at least one of a controller 210 and a driver220.

The driver 220 may be controlled by the controller 210, and the motor230 may be driven by the driver 220. The drum 122 in the tub 120 mayrotate according to the driving of the motor 230. The controller 210 mayreceive an operation signal from the operation key and controloperations, for example, may control washing operations such as washing,rinsing, dehydrating, drying, and the like. In addition, the controller210 may control the display to display operation states associated withwashing operations such as a washing course, a washing time, adehydration time, a rinsing time, and the like.

The driver 220 is provided to drive the motor 230, and may include aninverter (not shown) configured to convert direct current (DC) powerinto alternating current (AC) power and output the AC power to the motor230. A sensor for detecting a position of a rotor may not be providedinside or outside the motor 230, and thus the driver 220 may control themotor 230 by a sensorless method.

The motor control device 200 may be a device for controlling the drivingof the motor 230 by supplying driving power to the motor 230. Inaddition, the motor control device 200 may be a device for controllingthe operation of the motor 230 to control the driving of a compressorincluding the motor 230. The motor 230 controlled by the motor controldevice 200 may include a three-phase motor having a stator and a rotor,and AC power of a predetermined frequency is applied to a coil of thestator of each phase of three phases so that the rotor rotates. Forexample, the motor may include a surface-mounted permanent magnetsynchronous motor (SMPMSM), an interior permanent magnet synchronousmotor (IPMSM), and a synchronous reluctance motor (Synrm).

The controller 210 may control the driver 220 such that, before startingup the motor 230, a first pattern voltage for estimating resistance ofthe stator of the motor 230 is applied before a second pattern voltagefor estimating the position of the rotor of the motor 230 is applied. Inthe present specification, the first pattern voltage may correspond to afirst pattern signal, and the second pattern voltage may correspond to asecond pattern signal.

The controller 210 may control the driving of the motor 230 based on theposition of the rotor, which is estimated according to the result ofapplying the first pattern voltage, and the resistance of the statorestimated according to the result of applying the second patternvoltage.

In the present specification, the first pattern signal may include afirst sub-pattern signal set including a plurality of signals having thesame phase and different magnitudes. For example, the first sub-patternsignal set may include a first input signal and a second input signalhaving the same phase but different magnitudes. In addition, the secondpattern signal may include a second sub-pattern signal set including aplurality of signals having the same magnitude and different phases. Forexample, the second sub-pattern signal set may include a firstsub-pattern signal, a second sub-pattern signal, a third sub-patternsignal, a fourth sub-pattern signal, a fifth sub-pattern signal, and asixth sub-pattern signal having the same magnitude but different phases.

Further, in the present specification, a first input voltage maycorrespond to the first input signal, and a second input voltage maycorrespond to the second input signal. In addition, in the presentspecification, the first sub-pattern signal may correspond to a firstsub-pattern voltage, the second sub-pattern signal may correspond to asecond sub-pattern voltage, the third sub-pattern signal may correspondto a third sub-pattern voltage, the fourth sub-pattern signal maycorrespond to a fourth sub-pattern voltage, the fifth sub-pattern signalmay correspond to a fifth sub-pattern voltage, and the sixth sub-patternsignal may correspond to a sixth sub-pattern voltage.

The first pattern voltage may correspond to signals having differentmagnitudes and the same phase, and the second pattern voltage maycorrespond to signals having the same magnitude and different phases.Specifically, the first pattern voltage may include the first inputvoltage and the second input voltage having the same phase. However, amaximum value of the first input voltage and a maximum value of thesecond input voltage may be different, and angles of composite magneticfluxes of the motor generated due to the first input voltage and thesecond input voltage may be the same. Meanwhile, the first input voltageand the second input voltage may each have a sine wave form.

Further, the controller 210 may control the driver 220 to apply thesecond input voltage when a time longer than a first threshold time haspassed from a point at which a response current for the first inputvoltage is 0 [A].

Meanwhile, a resistance value of the stator may be estimated in asection in which the response current for each of the first inputvoltage and the second input voltage is less than 0 [A].

Further, the controller 210 may control the driver 220 not to apply thefirst pattern voltage before a time longer than the second thresholdtime has passed after receiving a stop command from the motor 230. Theresistance value of the stator may be newly estimated when the timelonger than the second threshold time has passed after receiving thestop command of the motor 230.

Further, the resistance value of the stator may not be updated even whenthe first pattern voltage is applied before the time longer than thesecond threshold time has passed after receiving the stop command of themotor 230.

Meanwhile, the first pattern voltage may be a voltage in which acompensation voltage is added to the command voltage in order to correctan error between the command voltage and a voltage output to the motor230. At this time, when the driver 220 includes a plurality ofinverters, the compensation voltage may be changed according to a sum ofvoltage errors occurring when power is applied to the plurality ofinverters.

According to an example embodiment, when the motor 230 starts operating,the motor control device 200 may estimate the position of the rotorafter estimating the resistance of the stator without aligning theposition of the rotor of the motor 230. As such, since the position ofthe rotor is not aligned before the motor 230 starts operating, a timetaken to align the position of the rotor may be reduced. In addition, asignal for estimating the resistance of the stator and a signal forestimating the position of the rotor are separated, and the signal forestimating the resistance is applied prior to the signal for estimatingthe position, so that the accuracy of the resistance estimation may beimproved. That is, since the resistance of the stator is estimatedbefore estimating the position of the rotor, an influence due to thesignal for estimating the position may be minimized.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a clothes treating apparatus accordingto an example embodiment. Referring to FIG. 3, the clothes treatingapparatus may include at least one of an AC power 305, a reactor L, aconverter 310, a smoothing capacitor C, an inverter 320, a controller330, and a motor 340. In addition, the clothes treating apparatus mayinclude an input current detector A, a dc stage voltage detector B, anoutput current detector E, and an output voltage detector F.

Here, the reactor L may be disposed between an AC power 305 V_(s) andthe converter 310, and may perform power factor correction or a step-upoperation. In addition, the reactor L may also perform a function oflimiting a harmonic current caused by high-speed switching of theconverter 310.

The input current detector A may detect an input current is input fromthe AC power 305. To this end, a current transformer (CT), a shuntresistor, or the like may be used as the input current detector A. Thedetected input current may be input to the controller 330 as a pulsetype discrete signal.

The converter 310 may convert the AC power 305 through the reactor Linto DC power and output the DC power. At this time, the AC power 305may be a single-phase AC power or a three-phase AC power, and aninternal structure of the converter 310 may be changed according to thetype of the AC power 305. The converter 310 may include a diode or thelike without including a switching element, and may perform arectification operation without a separate switching operation. Forexample, four diodes of a bridge form may be used as the converter 310in the case of single-phase AC power, and six diodes of a bridge formmay be used as the converter 310 in the case of three-phase AC power.When the converter 310 includes a switching element, a step-upoperation, a power factor improvement, and a DC power conversion may beperformed by a switching operation of the switching element of theconverter 310.

The smoothing capacitor C may smooth and store the input power. In FIG.3, the smoothing capacitor C is illustrated as being one element, but aplurality of the elements may be used to secure device stability. Inaddition, in FIG. 3, the smoothing capacitor C is illustrated as beingpositioned at an output terminal of the converter 310, but is notlimited thereto, and DC power may be directly input to the smoothingcapacitor C. The DC power is stored in the smoothing capacitor C, andthus both ends of the smoothing capacitor C may be referred to as a dcstage or a dc link stage.

The dc stage voltage detector B may detect a dc stage voltage V_(dc) atboth ends of the smoothing capacitor C. The dc stage voltage detector Bmay include a resistance element, an amplifier, and the like. Thedetected dc stage voltage V_(dc) may be input to the controller 330 as apulse-type discrete signal.

The inverter 320 includes a plurality of switching elements, and mayconvert the DC power V_(dc), which is smoothed by on/off operation ofthe switching elements, into three-phase AC power v_(a), v_(b), andv_(c) of a predetermined frequency and output the three-phase AC powerv_(a), v_(b), and v_(c) to the motor 340. When each of upper-armswitching elements S_(a), S_(b), and S_(c) being connected in series andeach of lower-arm switching elements S′_(a), S′_(b), and S′_(c) beingconnected in series form a pair, the inverter 320 may have a structurehaving a total of three pairs of upper and lower arm switching elementsconnected in parallel. Each of the switching elements of S_(a), S′_(a),S_(b), S′_(b), S_(c), and S′_(c) may have a structure in which a diodeis connected in parallel.

The switching elements in the inverter 320 may be controlled to be anon/off state based on a control signal S_(ic) from the controller 330.Accordingly, AC power having a predetermined frequency may be output tothe motor 340. The control signal S_(ic) is a switching control signalof a pulse width modulation (PWM) method, and may be generated andoutput based on an output current io detected by the output currentdetector E and an output voltage Vo detected by the output voltagedetector F.

The controller 330 may control the switching operation of the inverter320 on the basis of a sensorless method. To this end, the controller 330may receive the output current io detected by the output currentdetector E and the output voltage Vo detected by the output voltagedetector F.

The output current detector E may detect the output current io flowingbetween the inverter 320 and the motor 340. That is, current flowingthrough the motor 340 may be detected. In addition, the output currentdetector E may detect all of output currents ia, ib, and is ofrespective phases, or may detect output currents of two phases using athree-phase balance. The output current detector E may be positionedbetween the inverter 320 and the motor 340, and a current transformer(CT), a shunt resistor, or the like may be used to detect current. Whena shunt resistor is used as the output current detector E, three shuntresistors may be positioned between inverter 320 and the motor 340, maybe connected respectively, at one terminal thereof, to three lower armswitching elements S′_(a), S′_(b), and S′_(c) of the inverter 320. Inaddition, two shunt resistors may also be used using a three-phasebalance. In addition, when a single shunt resistor is used, the shuntresistor may be used between the capacitor C and the inverter 320. Thedetected output current i_(o) may be applied to the controller 330 as apulse-type discrete signal, and the control signal S_(ic) may begenerated on the basis of the detected output current i_(o).

The output voltage detector F is positioned between the inverter 320 andthe motor 340, and may detect an output voltage that is applied to themotor 340 from the inverter 320. When the inverter 320 is controlled bya PWM-based switching control signal, the output voltage may bePWM-based pulse type voltage. The output voltage detector F may includea resistance element electrically connected between the inverter 320 andthe motor 340, and a comparator connected to one end of the resistanceelement. The detected output voltage V_(o) may be applied to thecontroller 330 as a pulse-type discrete signal, and the control signalS_(ic) may be generated on the basis of the detected output voltageV_(o).

Regions (a) and (b) of FIG. 4 are diagrams illustrating a currentapplied to a motor according to an example embodiment. In the relatedart sensorless control of a motor of a washing machine, an initialposition alignment may be carried out to stabilize initial startingcharacteristics and detection performance. In the initial positionalignment operation, as shown in FIG. 4, a DC is applied to align aposition of the motor to a specific position, and then the motor isdriven, and by using voltage and current information at this time, astator resistance Rs, which is an essential parameter for sensorlesscontrol, is detected. As such, a predetermined signal as shown in FIG. 4(section B) may be applied to align the position of the motor to aspecific position, and then the motor may be driven.

Referring to Regions (a) and (b) of FIG. 4, section A is a section inwhich the position alignment of the rotor is carried out, and section Bmay be a section in which a swing start of the motor is carried out. Inaddition, the starting of the motor may begin from section C. Referringto FIG. 4 (region a), it can be seen that, in section A, a motor speedis close to zero because it is before starting up the motor, but when itreaches section C after passing section B, the motor speed increases.

Meanwhile, a predetermined signal applied to the motor control device insection A may be the same as that shown in FIG. 4 (region b). When themotor control device is controlled in the form in FIG. 4, the motorcontrol device may simultaneously estimate the resistance of the statorwhile aligning the position of the rotor. However, there is a problem inthat a time (0 to T₁) taken to align the position is relatively longerthan a time taken to estimate the resistance of the stator and theposition of the rotor without aligning (alignless) the position as inFIG. 5, and the greater the inertia of an object to be driven by themotor, the longer the time taken to align the position.

Regions (a) and (b) of FIG. 5 are diagrams illustrating a currentapplied to a motor according to another example embodiment. In a motorcontrol device and method according to an example embodiment, instead ofperforming a process of aligning a position of a rotor, a first patternvoltage is applied to estimate resistance of a stator, and a secondpattern voltage is applied to estimate the position of the rotor. Thus,the motor control device may estimate the resistance of the stator andthe position of the rotor in section A′ (alignless) shown in FIG. 5(region a) instead of section A (align) shown in FIG. 4 (region a).Details about the first pattern voltage and the second pattern voltagewill be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 14 below.

At this time, current applied to the motor control device from sectionA′ (alignless) to section C may be the same as that shown in FIG. 5(region b). Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, it can be seen that a time(section A′) taken to estimate the resistance of the stator and theposition of the rotor is relatively shorter than a time (section A)taken to align the position of the rotor. For example, when the currentaccording to FIG. 4 is applied, the required time (section A (align))taken for the application is approximately 3 sec., but, when the currentaccording to FIG. 5 is applied, the required time (section A′(alignless)) taken for the application may be approximately 0.31 sec.Accordingly, the motor control device and method may reduce noise and/orvibration of the motor.

In relation to section A′ (alignless), a detailed description ofestimating the resistance of the stator and the position of the rotor byapplying the first pattern voltage and the second pattern voltagewithout aligning the position will be made with reference to thedrawings.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a resistance estimation section and aninitial position estimation section according to an example embodiment.Referring to FIG. 6, in a motor control device and method according toan example embodiment, an inverter may be controlled such that a firstpattern voltage 610 for estimating resistance and a second patternvoltage 620 for estimating an initial position are applied in responseto a start of the driving of the motor.

Meanwhile, when a signal for estimating the resistance and a signal forestimating the initial position are applied, rotational torque isgenerated by the signals so that the motor may be moved. This movementof the motor may affect the performance of estimating the resistance.

When this is taken into consideration, the first pattern voltage 610 maybe applied before the second pattern voltage 620 is applied.Accordingly, the motor control device and method according to an exampleembodiment may prevent the performance of estimating the resistance frombeing degraded due to the second pattern voltage 620.

Further, in order to offset a voltage error due to non-linearity of theinverter, the first pattern voltage 610 may be applied to the sameposition of the rotor. Whether the first pattern voltage is applied tothe same position of the rotor is detected by detecting an angle of acomposite magnetic flux of the motor due to the first pattern voltage.For example, the first pattern voltage 610 may be applied at 0°, but theposition at which the first pattern voltage 610 is applied is notlimited thereto.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the resistance estimationsection according to an example embodiment. Referring to FIG. 7, a firstpattern voltage 710 for estimating resistance may include a first inputvoltage 720 having a maximum value of V1 and a second input voltage 730having a maximum value of V2. For example, V1 may be 0.75*V2, but therelationship between V1 and V2 is not limited thereto. In other words,the first pattern voltage 710 may include the first input voltage 720and the second input voltage 730 having different amplitudes. However,the shape of the first pattern voltage 710 is not limited thereto, andthe first pattern voltage 710 may be at least one of a square wave, ahalf wave, a pulse, and a sine wave.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a resistance detectionsection included in the resistance estimation section according to anexample embodiment. When the first pattern voltage includes a firstinput voltage and a second input voltage, a first detection section 810of FIG. 8 indicates a section in which a response current for the firstinput voltage is less than 0 [A]. In addition, a second detectionsection 820 indicates a section in which a response current for thesecond input voltage is less than 0 [A]. The motor control device andmethod according to an example embodiment may estimate the resistance ofthe stator on the basis of information checked in the first detectionsection 810 and the second detection section 820.

Meanwhile, a stator resistance Rs may be calculated on the basis ofEquations 1 to 4 below. First, a motor voltage equation based on astationary coordinate system is given by Equation 1.

$\begin{matrix}{V_{\alpha} = {{R_{s}I_{\alpha}} + {L_{s}\frac{{dI}_{\alpha}}{dt}} - {\omega_{re}\varnothing_{f}\sin\;\theta_{re}}}} & \left\lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 1} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$

Here, L_(S) denotes a stator inductance. Meanwhile, assuming thatω_(re)=0, integral values for voltages detected in the first detectionsection 810 and the second detection section 820 may be respectivelyexpressed as Equations 2 and 3.

$\begin{matrix}{{\int{V_{\alpha\; 1}{dt}}} = {{R_{s}{\int{I_{\alpha\; 1}{dt}}}} + {L_{s}{\int{\frac{{dI}_{\alpha\; 1}}{dt}{dt}}}}}} & \left\lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 2} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$

Here, V_(a1) denotes a voltage detected in the first detection section810, and I_(a1) denotes a current detected in the first detectionsection 810.

$\begin{matrix}{{\int{V_{\alpha\; 2}{dt}}} = {{R_{s}{\int{I_{\alpha\; 2}{dt}}}} + {L_{s}{\int{\frac{{dI}_{\alpha\; 2}}{dt}{dt}}}}}} & \left\lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{11mu} 3} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$

Here, V_(a2) denotes a voltage detected in the second detection section820, and I_(a2) denotes a current detected in the second detectionsection 820. Accordingly, using Equations 2 and 3, the stator resistanceRs may be calculated as Equation 4.

$\begin{matrix}{R_{s} = \frac{\left( {\left( {{\int V_{\alpha\; 2}} - {\int V_{\alpha\; 1}}} \right) - {L_{s}\left( {I_{\alpha\; 2} - I_{\alpha\; 1}} \right)}} \right)}{\left( {{\int I_{\alpha\; 2}} - {\int I_{\alpha\; 1}}} \right)}} & \left\lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{11mu} 4} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$

FIG. 9 is a diagram for describing a method of estimating the statorresistance according to an example embodiment. Referring to FIG. 9, themotor control device and method according to an example embodiment maycontrol a switching operation such that a second input voltage isapplied when a time longer than a first threshold time has passed from apoint at which a response current for a first input voltage is 0 [A]after the first input voltage has applied.

Referring to FIG. 9, when a first input voltage 910 is applied, aresponse current for the first input voltage 910 may be detected. In themotor control device and method according to an example embodiment, asecond input voltage 930 may be applied when a time longer than thefirst threshold time has passed from a point 920 at which the responsecurrent for the first input voltage 910 is 0 [A]. For example, the firstthreshold time may be 15 ms, but the first threshold time is not limitedthereto.

When the motor moves while the resistance is estimated, a voltage due toa counter electromotive force may be generated so that a resistanceestimation error may occur. Thus, when starting up the motor in a statein which the motor is not completely stopped, a signal for estimatingresistance may not be applied, or a resistance value may not be newlydetected even when the signal for estimating the resistance is applied.Here, the expression “the resistance value is not newly detected” mayinclude that a previously estimated resistance value is not updated by anew resistance value even when the resistance value is newly estimated.For example, although it depends on a load amount and quantity, when atime period from a motor stop command to a motor start command is within3.5 seconds, the resistance value may not be updated. In addition, theresistance value of the stator may not be detected or updated in amotion in which the motor starts immediately after stopping, such as ashort circuit after detecting eccentricity, or cloth wetting pattern, inaddition to a motion that controls the operation of the motor with a netacting ratio, such as washing or tumbling. Accordingly, the motorcontrol device and method according to an example embodiment may reducea resistance error.

Regions (a) and (b) of FIG. 10 are diagrams for describing non-linearcharacteristics of the inverter and a compensation voltage according tothe non-linear characteristics of the inverter according to an exampleembodiment. Referring to regions (a) and (b) of FIG. 10, in the motorcontrol device and method according to an example embodiment, a firstpattern voltage acquired by adding a compensation voltage to a commandvoltage may be applied to compensate for non-linearity of the inverter.

When a voltage for estimating resistance is applied, non-linearcharacteristics of the inverter due to dead time or the like in a lowvoltage region may be present. Accordingly, in order to reduce aninfluence of the non-linear characteristics of the inverter, a voltageerror occurring at the dead time may be calculated and may be added tothe command voltage. As such, the voltage added to the command voltagemay be defined as a compensation voltage.

Referring to FIG. 10 (region A), a first voltage error represents avoltage error when power is applied to a lower inverter of the motor,and a second voltage error represents a voltage error when power isapplied to an upper inverter of the motor. It can be seen that thevoltage error occurs in a section except for a point at which themagnitude of a phase current is 0 [A] when the first voltage error andthe second voltage error are summed.

FIG. 10 (region b) illustrates a compensation voltage determined inconsideration of the sum of the voltage errors shown in FIG. 10 (regiona). Referring to regions (a) and (b) of FIG. 10, it can be seen that thecompensation voltage has a sign opposite to that of the voltage error.

Regions (a) and (b) of FIG. 11 are diagrams for describing a differencebetween a command voltage according to the compensation voltage and avoltage output to the motor, according to an example embodiment.Referring to regions (a) and (b) of FIG. 11, the motor control deviceand method according to an example embodiment may estimate theresistance of the stator in a detection section in which the responsecurrent for the first pattern voltage is less than 0 [A]. Meanwhile, thefirst detection section is highly likely to be similar to a firstsection 1110 of regions (a) and (b) of FIG. 11, and thus in thedescription of regions (a) and (b) of FIG. 11, it is assumed that themotor control device and method estimate the resistance of the stator inthe first section 1110.

Meanwhile, FIG. 11 (region a) is a diagram illustrating the commandvoltage and an output voltage, which is a voltage output to the motorbefore the non-linearity of the inverter is compensated for. It can beseen that a difference occurs between the command voltage and the outputvoltage in the first section 1110 because the compensation voltage isnot considered.

Meanwhile, after the compensation voltage is added to the commandvoltage to compensate for the non-linearity of the inverter, the outputvoltage may be the same as that in FIG. 11 (region b). Referring to FIG.11 (region b), it can be seen that the command voltage and the outputvoltage are substantially similar to each other in the first section1120.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a response current according to anexample embodiment. Referring to FIG. 12, the controller may control theinverter such that an input voltage of a specific pattern is applied tothe motor. Here, the input voltage of the specific pattern may includeone of a square wave, a half wave, a pulse, and a sine wave. Here, theinput voltage of the specific pattern may include the first patternvoltage and the second pattern voltage. As described above, theresistance of the stator may be estimated using the first patternvoltage, and the position of the rotor may be estimated using the secondpattern voltage.

The second pattern voltage may include a plurality of signals ofdifferent phases applied to the motor. That is, the plurality of signalsmay be signals that are applied to different positions of the motor.Meanwhile, the first pattern voltage may include signals of the samephase applied to the motor, which may be the signals applied to the sameposition of the motor. Since the plurality of signals are applied todifferent positions of the motor, an angle of a composite magnetic fluxof the motor may be sequentially changed. FIG. 12 is a diagram made onthe assumption that the second pattern voltage has a sine wave shape.When the second pattern voltage has a sine wave shape, torque isgenerated in a positive direction and a negative direction, so that anaverage torque of one cycle may become zero. Accordingly, torque ripplemay be reduced.

The second pattern voltage may include a plurality of sub-patternvoltages, and each of the sub-pattern voltages may be applied after aresponse current corresponding to a previously applied sub-patternvoltage becomes zero. In a section 1210 in which the second patternvoltage is applied, a sine wave of one cycle may be applied, forexample, six times, and accordingly, the response current may also havea shape similar to the sine wave. For example, when the second patternvoltage includes first to sixth sub-pattern voltages, which are sinewaves, a response current may also have a shape similar to a sine wave,and first to sixth response currents respectively for the first to sixthsub-pattern voltages may be generated.

Each of the sine waves may be a sine wave applied after a thirdthreshold time has passed after the response current due to thepreviously applied sub-pattern voltage becomes zero. That is, since thesecond pattern voltage is not a continuous sine wave, the responsecurrent may also have a shape different from that of the continuous sinewave.

Meanwhile, the applied sub-pattern voltage may have a low noisefrequency and magnitude. For example, the second pattern voltage may beapplied such that a response current of 3 [A] or less and 50 [Hz] isgenerated. However, the magnitude and frequency of the second patternvoltage that may be applied are not limited thereto, and it is obviousto those skilled in the art that the magnitude and frequency of thesecond pattern voltage may be changed according to system designrequirements.

Meanwhile, after starting up the motor, current distribution may occur.Accordingly, the controller may not perform the resistance estimationand the position estimation described herein in a section using currentinformation.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a method of estimating a position ofthe rotor according to an example embodiment. Referring to FIG. 13, asecond pattern voltage including first to sixth sub-pattern voltages ofdifferent phases applied to the motor is illustrated. When the first tosixth sub-pattern voltages are applied, first to sixth response currentsrespectively corresponding thereto may be generated. At this time, whenthe first to sixth sub-pattern voltages are applied in acounterclockwise direction as shown in FIG. 13 to estimate the positionof the rotor, the motor may be rotated due to torque. At this time, dueto the rotation of the motor, unnatural tremors and movement problemsmay occur. Thus, the order of applying the second pattern voltage willbe described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a method of estimating the position ofthe rotor according to another example embodiment. Referring to FIG. 14,in order to reduce the rotation of the motor according to the secondpattern voltage, the order in which the first to sixth sub-patternvoltages are applied may be different from that of FIG. 13. At thistime, two voltages having the same phase and different magnitudes may beapplied to as the first pattern voltage, and thus, the first sub-patternvoltage of the second pattern voltage may have a phase that is differentfrom that of the first pattern voltage by a first angle. That is, thefirst sub-pattern voltage having a phase that is different from that ofthe first pattern voltage by the first angle may be applied to themotor. For example, when two voltages having 0° and different magnitudesare applied to as the first pattern voltage, the first sub-patternvoltage of the second pattern voltage may be applied to at 180°. Here,the first angle may be a fixed value, or an angle close to the fixedvalue. For example, the first sub-pattern voltage of the second patternvoltage may be applied to at 180°+/−10°. In other words, in the firstresponse current corresponding to the first sub-pattern voltage, ani_(d) component (X-axis component) may be greater than an i_(q)component (Y-axis component).

In addition, the second sub-pattern voltage of the second patternvoltage may have a phase different from that of the first sub-patternvoltage by the first angle. For example, when the first sub-patternvoltage is applied at 180°, the second sub-pattern voltage may beapplied at 0°. Similarly, a first angle may be a fixed value, or anangle close to the fixed value. For example, the second sub-patternvoltage of the second pattern voltage may be applied to at 0°+/−10°.That is, the first angle and the second angle may be angles determinedto reduce the rotation of the motor, which occurs according to thesecond pattern voltage, and the second sub-pattern voltage may beapplied to a position at which the rotation of the motor due to thefirst sub-pattern voltage and the second sub-pattern voltage is reduced.In other words, in the second response current corresponding to thesecond sub-pattern voltage, an i_(d) component (X-axis component) may begreater than an i_(q) component (Y-axis component).

In addition, the third sub-pattern voltage of the second pattern voltagemay have a phase different from that of the second sub-pattern voltageby the second angle. For example, when the second sub-pattern voltage isapplied at 0°, the third sub-pattern voltage may be applied at 120°.Since the first to sixth sub-pattern voltages may be applied todifferent positions of the motor, the third sub-pattern voltage needs tobe applied at a different position instead of the same position as thefirst sub-pattern voltage, and at this time, the third sub-patternvoltage may be applied at a position at which the rotation of the motormay be reduced as much as possible. In other words, in the thirdresponse current corresponding to the third sub-pattern voltage, ani_(d) component (X-axis component) may be less than an i_(q) component(Y-axis component).

In addition, the fourth sub-pattern voltage of the second patternvoltage may have a phase different from that of the third sub-patternvoltage by the first angle. For example, when the third sub-patternvoltage is applied at 120°, the fourth sub-pattern voltage may beapplied at 300°. Since the first to sixth sub-pattern voltages may beapplied to different positions of the motor, the fourth sub-patternvoltage may be applied to a position at which the rotation of the motormay be reduced as much as possible. In other words, in the fourthresponse current corresponding to the fourth sub-pattern voltage, ani_(d) component (X-axis component) may be less than an i_(q) component(Y-axis component).

In addition, the fifth sub-pattern voltage of the second pattern voltagemay have a phase different from that of the fourth sub-pattern voltageby the second angle. For example, when the fourth sub-pattern voltage isapplied at 300°, the fifth sub-pattern voltage may be applied at 60°.Since the first to sixth sub-pattern voltages may be applied todifferent positions of the motor, the fifth sub-pattern voltage may beapplied to a position at which the rotation of the motor may be reducedas much as possible. In other words, in the fifth response currentcorresponding to the fifth sub-pattern voltage, an id component (X-axiscomponent) may be less than an i_(q) component (Y-axis component).

In addition, the sixth sub-pattern voltage of the second pattern voltagemay have a phase different from that of the fifth sub-pattern voltage bythe first angle. For example, when the fifth sub-pattern voltage isapplied at 60°, the sixth sub-pattern voltage may be applied at 240°.Since the first to sixth sub-pattern voltages may be applied todifferent positions of the motor, the sixth sub-pattern voltage may beapplied to a position at which the rotation of the motor may be reducedas much as possible. In other words, in the sixth response currentcorresponding to the sixth sub-pattern voltage, an id component (X-axiscomponent) may be less than an i_(q) component (Y-axis component).

The position of the rotor of the motor may be estimated based on themaximum point of the phases of the first to sixth response currentsrespectively corresponding to the first to sixth sub-pattern voltages.For example, the position of the rotor of the motor may be estimated onthe basis of the fourth response current having the maximum phase amongthe first to sixth response currents.

FIG. 15 illustrates one example embodiment of the clothes treatingapparatus operating in the first mode or the second mode before startingup a motor. Referring to FIG. 15, in operation S1510, the clothestreating apparatus may determine whether a predetermined condition issatisfied. When the predetermined condition is satisfied, in operationS1520, the clothes treating apparatus may control the inverter incorrespondence with the first mode, and when the predetermined conditionis not satisfied, in operation S1530, the clothes treating apparatus maycontrol the inverter in correspondence with the second mode. Inaddition, after controlling the inverter in correspondence with thefirst mode, the clothes treating apparatus may determine whether tocontrol the inverter in correspondence with the first mode or controlthe inverter in correspondence with the second mode, on the basis of thedetermination result in operation S1540. Specifically, the clothestreating apparatus may control the inverter in correspondence with thefirst mode, and then, when it is before a cloth amount detectionoperation starts or it is an initial start after power on, the clothestreating apparatus may control the inverter in correspondence with thefirst mode. Alternatively, the clothes treating apparatus may controlthe inverter in correspondence with the first mode, and then may controlthe inverter in correspondence with the second mode in other situations.

Here, the first mode may correspond to a mode for controlling theinverter to perform the initial position alignment (align) operationdescribed above, and the second mode may correspond to a mode forcontrolling the inverter to estimate the position of the rotor and theresistance of the stator without aligning the position (alignless)described above. That is, the first mode may correspond to a mode inwhich a predetermined signal as shown in FIG. 4 (region B) is applied toalign the position of the rotor to a specific position, and the secondmode may correspond to a mode for estimating the resistance of thestator and the position of the rotor by applying the first patternvoltage and the second pattern voltage as shown in FIG. 6 withoutaligning the position of the rotor to a specific position.

Here, the predetermined condition may include a case in which theclothes treating apparatus detects cloth amount or a case of initiallystarting up the motor after the power is applied to the clothes treatingapparatus. Specifically, the controller may detect the cloth amount onthe basis of the rotation of a drum before washing is started by theoperation key after laundry is loaded into the drum and the timerequired for the washing is displayed through the display. That is, thecontroller may control the inverter according to the first mode incorrespondence with at least a portion of the starting of the motorbefore the required washing time is displayed.

The controller may control the driving of the motor after aligning themotor to a specific position on the basis of the first mode beforestarting a washing operation including an operation of detecting clothamount, during the washing operation. The cloth amount detectiondescribed above may be performed before the start of washing, before thestart of dehydration, and before the start of drying among theoperations. For example, the controller may align the motor to aspecific position on the basis of the first mode before startingwashing, and then control the driving of the motor. For another example,the controller may align the motor to a specific position on the basisof the first mode before starting dehydration, and then control thedriving of the motor. For still another example, the controller mayalign the motor to a specific position on the basis of the first modebefore starting drying, and then control the driving of the motor. Foryet another example, the controller may control the driving of the motorafter aligning the motor to a specific position on the basis of thefirst mode before initially starting up the motor after power isapplied.

In addition, when not corresponding to a predetermined condition, thecontroller may control the driving of the motor without aligning themotor to a specific position on the basis of the second mode.

A first time required to align the position of the rotor to a specificposition when corresponding to the first mode may be longer than asecond time required to estimate the position of the rotor withoutaligning the position of the rotor when corresponding to the secondmode. This may be confirmed by comparing the times described in FIGS. 4and 5 above and confirming that the time difference is about 10 times.

According to an example embodiment, in the case of following the secondmode, current distribution may occur, and thus it may be difficult toapply the second mode to an operation of detecting cloth amount, whichrequires current information of the motor. Accordingly, the overallwashing time may be reduced and the accuracy of the cloth amountdetection may also be improved by setting the apparatus to operateaccording to the first mode when it is an operation of detecting clothamount, which requires the current information of the motor, and tooperate according to the second mode in other cases. In addition, sinceaccurate parameters acquired according to the first mode may be usedlater when controlling the motor, the control and drive of the motor maybe more accurately performed.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart for describing a method of controlling the motoraccording to an example embodiment. For a detailed description of theoverlapping content, reference is made to the above description.

Referring to FIG. 16, in operation S1610, the controller may check acontrol state of the clothes treating apparatus. The control state ofthe clothes treating apparatus may include a state corresponding to anoperation of detecting cloth amount, a state corresponding to an initialstart of the motor after the power is turned on, or the other states.For example, the controller may check whether the state corresponds to astate before the start of washing, the start of dehydrating, or thestart of drying start, in which the cloth amount is detected, among thewashing operations. For another example, the controller may checkwhether the state corresponds to an initial start of the motor after thepower is on. For still another example, the controller may check whetherthe state corresponds to the other states.

In operation S1620, the controller may control the inverter incorrespondence with the first mode before starting up the motor when acontrol state corresponds to a predetermined condition, or may controlthe inverter in correspondence with the second mode before starting upthe motor when the control state does not correspond to thepredetermined condition.

The controller may control the inverter in correspondence with the firstmode when the checked control state corresponds to the predeterminedcondition, and may control the inverter in correspondence with thesecond mode when the checked control state does not correspond to thepredetermined condition.

The first mode may correspond to a mode for controlling the inverter sothat, before starting up the motor, the motor may be forcibly aligned toa specific position by applying a predetermined signal as shown in FIG.4B. In addition, the second mode may correspond to a mode forcontrolling the inverter to estimate the resistance of the stator andthe position of the rotor by applying the first pattern voltage and thesecond pattern voltage as shown in FIG. 6 without aligning the motor. Atthis time, a first time required to align the position of the rotor to aspecific position when corresponding to the first mode may beapproximately 10 times longer than a second time required to estimatethe position of the rotor without aligning the position of the rotorwhen corresponding to the second mode.

According to an example embodiment, when the apparatus operates inaccordance with an alignless mode, current distribution may occur togenerate an error in operations such as cloth amount detection thatrequires current information of the motor. Accordingly, in an operationof detecting cloth amount, which requires the current information of themotor, the apparatus operates according to the first mode, and in othercases, the apparatus may operate according to the second mode so thatthe motor may start quickly after the pattern voltage is applied withina short time to determine the approximate motor position. As describedabove, since the first mode or the second mode is applied according tothe control state, the overall washing time may be reduced and theaccuracy of the cloth amount detection may be improved.

According to the example embodiments described above, the electronicapparatus or the terminal may include a processor, a memory for storingand executing program data, a permanent storage such as a disk drive, acommunication port for communicating with external devices, and userinterface devices, such as a touch panel, keys, buttons, and the like.Methods may be implemented with software modules or algorithms and maybe stored as program instructions or computer-readable codes executableon a processor on a computer-readable recording medium. Examples of thecomputer-readable recording medium include magnetic storage media (forexample, read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), floppydisks, hard disks, and the like), optical recording media (for example,CD-ROMs, or digital versatile discs (DVDs)), and the like. Thecomputer-readable recording medium may also be distributed over networkcoupled computer systems so that the computer-readable codes are storedand executed in a distributive manner. The media may be readable by thecomputer, stored in the memory, and executed by the processor.

The present example embodiments may be described in terms of functionalblock components and various processing operations. Such functionalblocks may be implemented by any number of hardware and/or softwarecomponents configured to perform the specified functions. For example,these example embodiments may employ various integrated circuit (IC)components, for example, memory elements, processing elements, logicelements, look-up tables, and the like, which may perform variousfunctions under the control of one or more microprocessors or othercontrol devices. Similarly, where components are implemented usingsoftware programming or software components, the present exampleembodiments may be implemented with any programming or scriptinglanguage including C, C++, Java, assembler, or the like, with thevarious algorithms being implemented with any combination of datastructures, processes, routines or other programming components.Functional aspects may be implemented in algorithms that are executed onone or more processors. In addition, the present example embodiments mayemploy conventional techniques for electronics environment setting,voltage processing on server pattern, and/or data processing and thelike. The terms “mechanism,” “element,” “means,” “configuration,” andthe like may be used in a broad sense and are not limited to mechanicalor physical components. The term may include the meaning of a series ofroutines of software in conjunction with a processor or the like.

An aspect provides a technique for controlling an inverter incorrespondence with a first mode, in which a position of a motor isaligned, or a second mode, in which the position of the motor is notaligned, according to a state. An aspect also provides a technique forselectively applying a first mode or a second mode for each situation sothat overall washing time is reduced to improve user convenience.

An aspect provides a technique for improving the accuracy of clothamount detection by controlling an inverter according to a first modeinstead of a second mode in which current distribution occurs whenaccurate current information of a motor is required. An aspect alsoprovides a technique for acquiring parameters according to a first modeand using the parameters later when controlling the motor, so that thecontrol and drive of a motor are more accurately performed.

An aspect also provides a technique for controlling an application orderof a second pattern voltage to reduce rotation of a motor due to torquethat may be generated when the motor operates in accordance with asecond mode of estimating resistance of a stator and a position of arotor without aligning the motor. An aspect also provides a techniquefor reducing rotation of a motor by offsetting torque by determining anapplication order of a second pattern voltage including a plurality ofsub-pattern voltages so that the rotation of the motor is reduced asmuch as possible. An aspect also provides a technique for improving userconvenience by quickly and accurately controlling a clothes treatingapparatus.

The technical goals to be achieved by the present example embodiments isnot limited to the above-described technical aspects, and othertechnical aspects which are not described may be inferred from thefollowing example embodiments.

According to an aspect, there is provided a clothes treating apparatusfor control based on a first mode or a second mode, the clothes treatingapparatus including a motor, an inverter configured to convert a directcurrent (DC) input into an alternating current (AC) output and providethe AC output to the motor, and a controller configured to control theinverter in relation to driving of the motor, and the controllercontrols the inverter according to one of a first mode and a second modebefore starting up the motor, and a pattern of a signal applied to themotor according to the first mode and a pattern of a signal applied tothe motor according to the second mode are different from each other.

Specifically, the controller may control the inverter in correspondencewith the second mode in which a first pattern signal having the samephase is applied to the motor and then a second pattern signal havingdifferent phases is applied to the motor. Desirably, a phase differencebetween the first pattern signal and a first sub-pattern signal of thesecond pattern signal may correspond to a first angle. Morespecifically, in correspondence with the second mode, the controller mayestimate a position of a rotor on the basis of a phase of a sub-patternsignal whose response current has the maximum value among a secondsub-pattern signal set.

In addition, in correspondence with the second mode, the controller maydetermine a phase of a signal, which is applied after the second patternsignal is applied, on the basis of a phase of a sub-pattern signal whoseresponse current has the maximum value among a second sub-pattern signalset. Also, the first sub-pattern signal set may include a plurality ofsignals having the same phase and different maximum values, and, incorrespondence with the second mode, the controller may estimate aresistance of a stator of the motor on the basis of a response currentaccording to the first pattern signal.

In this instance, the controller may control the inverter such that aposition of a rotor of the motor is aligned to a specific position byapplying a predetermined signal to the motor in correspondence with thefirst mode, and control the inverter to estimate the position of therotor by sequentially applying a first pattern signal and a secondpattern signal without aligning the position of the rotor incorrespondence with the second mode. Specifically, the controller maycontrol the inverter according to the first mode in at least one of acase in which the clothes treating apparatus detects cloth amount and acase in which the motor initially starts after power is applied to thecontroller. Desirably, the controller may control the inverter accordingto the first mode in correspondence with at least a portion of startingup the motor before a required washing time is displayed.

Further, the controller may control the inverter according to the firstmode in correspondence with at least a portion of starting up the motoraccording to an operation of detecting cloth amount among washingoperations of the clothes treating apparatus. Specifically, a secondtime required to estimate a position of a rotor without aligning theposition of the rotor according to the second mode may be relativelyshorter than a first time required to align the position of the rotor ofthe motor according to the first mode. Further, the controller maycontrol the inverter according to the first mode when corresponding to apredetermined condition, and then control the inverter according to thesecond mode when not corresponding to the predetermined condition.

According to another aspect, there is also provided a method ofcontrolling a clothes treating apparatus for control based on a firstmode or a second mode, the method including checking a control state ofthe clothes treating apparatus, and controlling an inverter incorrespondence with a first mode before starting up a motor when thecontrol state corresponds to a predetermined condition, and controllingthe inverter in correspondence with a second mode before starting up themotor when the control state does not correspond to the predeterminedcondition.

In a clothes treating apparatus according to an example embodimentdisclosed herein, one or more of the following effects can be expected.According to an example embodiment, by controlling an inverter accordingto a first mode or a second mode according to a state, the overallwashing time can be reduced to improve user convenience.

Specifically, the inverter is controlled according to the first modeinstead of the second mode, in which current distribution occurs in asection in which accurate current information of a motor is required, sothat cloth amount can be accurately detected. At this time, parametersare acquired according to the first mode and used later when controllingthe motor so that the control and drive of the motor can be moreaccurately performed.

In addition, overall washing time can be reduced by controlling theinverter according to the second mode instead of the first mode in asection in which it is required to control driving of a motor byestimating an approximate position of a rotor. At this time, a firstpattern voltage is first applied to estimate resistance of a statorhaving a relatively larger influence, and then a second pattern voltagehaving a different phase is applied to estimate the position of therotor, so that accuracy can be improved.

Specifically, in a first response current and a second response currentcorresponding to a second pattern voltage, an i_(d) component has alarger value than an i_(q) component, so that the rotation of the motorcan be reduced as much as possible. More specifically, in order tooffset the occurrence of torque as much as possible, the second patternvoltage is applied at different phases of the motor on the basis of afirst angle and a second angle so that the accuracy can be improved.

At this time, the position of the rotor is estimated based on themaximum point of phases of the response currents corresponding to thesecond pattern voltage, so that a value very close to an actual positionof the rotor can be acquired. Accordingly, different modes are appliedaccording to a state, so that the clothes treating apparatus can be morequickly and accurately controlled to improve user convenience andsatisfaction. Effects of the present disclosure will not be limited tothe above-mentioned effects and other unmentioned effects will beclearly understood by those skilled in the art from the followingclaims.

The above-described example embodiments are merely examples and otherexample embodiments may be implemented within the scope of the followingclaims.

It will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to asbeing “on” another element or layer, the element or layer can bedirectly on another element or layer or intervening elements or layers.In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on”another element or layer, there are no intervening elements or layerspresent. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and allcombinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, third,etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, components,regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions,layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These termsare only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer orsection from another region, layer or section. Thus, a first element,component, region, layer or section could be termed a second element,component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachingsof the present invention.

Spatially relative terms, such as “lower”, “upper” and the like, may beused herein for ease of description to describe the relationship of oneelement or feature to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated inthe figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms areintended to encompass different orientations of the device in use oroperation, in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. Forexample, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements describedas “lower” relative to other elements or features would then be oriented“upper” relative to the other elements or features. Thus, the exemplaryterm “lower” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. Thedevice may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at otherorientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used hereininterpreted accordingly.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

Embodiments of the disclosure are described herein with reference tocross-section illustrations that are schematic illustrations ofidealized embodiments (and intermediate structures) of the disclosure.As such, variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result,for example, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, are to beexpected. Thus, embodiments of the disclosure should not be construed aslimited to the particular shapes of regions illustrated herein but areto include deviations in shapes that result, for example, frommanufacturing.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will befurther understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art andwill not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unlessexpressly so defined herein.

Any reference in this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” “example embodiment,” etc., means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. Theappearances of such phrases in various places in the specification arenot necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Further, when aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic is described inconnection with any embodiment, it is submitted that it is within thepurview of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, orcharacteristic in connection with other ones of the embodiments.

Although embodiments have been described with reference to a number ofillustrative embodiments thereof, it should be understood that numerousother modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled inthe art that will fall within the spirit and scope of the principles ofthis disclosure. More particularly, various variations and modificationsare possible in the component parts and/or arrangements of the subjectcombination arrangement within the scope of the disclosure, the drawingsand the appended claims. In addition to variations and modifications inthe component parts and/or arrangements, alternative uses will also beapparent to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A laundry treating apparatus comprising: aninverter configured to convert a direct current (DC) input into analternating current (AC) output and provide the AC output to a motor;and a controller configured to control the inverter in relation todriving the motor, wherein the controller is configured to control theinverter according to at least one of a first mode or a second modebefore starting up the motor, and a pattern of a first signal applied tothe motor according to the first mode and a pattern of a second signalapplied to the motor according to the second mode are different fromeach other.
 2. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1, wherein, whenthe controller controls the inverter according to the second mode, afirst pattern signal having a same phase is applied to the motor, andthen a second pattern signal having different phases is applied to themotor.
 3. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 2, wherein a phasedifference between the first pattern signal and a first sub-patternsignal of the second pattern signal corresponds to a first angle.
 4. Thelaundry treating apparatus of claim 2, wherein, in correspondence withthe second mode, the controller estimates a position of a rotor of themotor on the basis of a phase of a sub-pattern signal whose responsecurrent has a maximum value among a second sub-pattern signal set. 5.The laundry treating apparatus of claim 2, wherein the controllerdetermines a phase of a signal, which is applied after the secondpattern signal is applied, based on a phase of a sub-pattern signalwhose response current has a maximum value among a second sub-patternsignal set.
 6. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 2, wherein thefirst pattern signal includes a plurality of signals having a same phaseand different maximum values, and the controller estimates a resistanceof a stator of the motor based on a response current according to thefirst pattern signal.
 7. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1,wherein the controller is configured to: control the inverter such thata position of a rotor of the motor is aligned to a specific position byapplying a predetermined signal to the motor according to the firstmode; and control the inverter to estimate the position of the rotor bysequentially applying a first pattern signal and a second pattern signalwithout aligning the position of the rotor according to the second mode.8. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controllercontrols the inverter according to the first mode in at least one of afirst case in which the laundry treating apparatus detects an amount oflaundry in the laundry treating apparatus or a second case in which themotor initially starts after power is applied to the controller.
 9. Thelaundry treating apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller controlsthe inverter according to the first mode in correspondence with startingup the motor before a required washing time is displayed.
 10. Thelaundry treating apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller controlsthe inverter according to the first mode in correspondence with startingup the motor according to detecting a laundry amount among washingoperations of the laundry treating apparatus.
 11. The laundry treatingapparatus of claim 1, wherein a second time period to estimate aposition of a rotor without aligning the position of the rotor accordingto the second mode is relatively shorter than a first time period toalign the position of the rotor of the motor according to the firstmode.
 12. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 1, wherein thecontroller controls the inverter according to the first mode when apredetermined condition is detected, and then controls the inverteraccording to the second mode when the predetermined condition is notdetected.
 13. A laundry treating apparatus comprising: an inverterconfigured to convert a direct current (DC) input into an alternatingcurrent (AC) output and provide the AC output to a motor; and acontroller configured to: check a control state of the laundry treatingapparatus; and control the inverter according to a first mode beforestarting up the motor when the control state corresponds to apredetermined condition, and control the inverter according to a secondmode before starting up the motor when the control state does notcorrespond to the predetermined condition.
 14. The laundry treatingapparatus of claim 13, wherein controlling the inverter according to thesecond mode includes: initially applying a first pattern signal having acommon phase to the motor, and then applying a second pattern signalhaving different phases to the motor.
 15. The laundry treating apparatusof claim 14, wherein a phase difference between the first pattern signaland a first sub-pattern signal of the second pattern signal correspondsto a first angle.
 16. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 14,wherein the controller estimates a position of a rotor of the motor onbased on a phase of a sub-pattern signal whose response current has amaximum value among a second sub-pattern signal set.
 17. The laundrytreating apparatus of claim 14, wherein the controller determines aphase of a signal, which is applied after the second pattern signal isapplied, based on a phase of a sub-pattern signal whose response currenthas a maximum value among a second sub-pattern signal set.
 18. Thelaundry treating apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first pattern signalincludes a plurality of signals having a same phase and differentmaximum values, and the controller estimates a resistance of a stator ofthe motor based on a response current according to the first patternsignal.
 19. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 13, wherein thecontroller is configured to: control the inverter such that a positionof a rotor of the motor is aligned to a specific position by applying apredetermined signal to the motor according to the first mode, andcontrol the inverter to estimate the position of the rotor bysequentially applying a first pattern signal and a second pattern signalwithout aligning the position of the rotor according to the second mode.20. The laundry treating apparatus of claim 13, wherein thepredetermined condition includes an occurrence of: the laundry treatingapparatus detects an amount of laundry in the laundry treatingapparatus, the motor initially starts after power is applied to thecontroller, the motor is starting up and before a required washing timeis displayed, or the motor is started up to detect the amount oflaundry, and wherein a second time period to estimate a position of arotor without aligning the position of the rotor according to the secondmode is relatively shorter than a first time period to align theposition of the rotor of the motor according to the first mode.